In many dairy milking operations it is desirable for dairy animals to be standing side-by-side, e.g. to maximize space in a milking shed. Consequently many dairy milking activities involve reaching between a dairy animal's rear legs, e.g. in milk cup attachment or teat spraying.
Reaching between the dairy animal's rear legs for said dairy milking activities can have a number of disadvantages due to the presence of the animal's tail. For example:                The tail can obscure the line-of-sight of the operator or milking activity machine.        The tail can become entangled with any devices passed between the animal's legs.        The tail can transfer contaminants such as fecal matter to the operator's arms or milking activity machine.        
Dairy farmers have increasingly looked to minimize the influence of the tail on dairy milking operations. One such method is to dock the tail. However, this removes the ability of the cow to swat flies etc from its back and many consider it a cruel and undesirable method.
A number of systems for holding the tail have been developed to overcome these problems. One such system is the “Kickbuster” manufactured by Kickbuster Ltd of Whakatane, New Zealand. In this system, an adjustable double ended hook is first hooked on an overhead rail then the tail is hooked on the other end and the tail hook is adjusted to lift the tail high enough that the cow cannot lift its tail out of the device. While this provides a good solution, the system requires manual attachment and removal hence takes longer to implement as well as adding to the labour cost.
Other systems, such as the “Cow tail Holder” from CattleStore.com are mounted one end overhead, and are an elasticized rope tied to the tail of the animal. This type of system overcomes the issue of tails obscuring the line of sight. However it is again a manual attach/Detach system.
It would be desirable to provide a tail positioning system which automatically removes the tail from dairy milking activities and is able to be easily retrofitted to most milking platforms or at least provide the public with a useful choice.